Could Campaign Finance Free For All Cost GOP A Senate Seat The Nebraska primary was last night and three GOP rivals went head to head - all of whom were supported by big money. "But a Senate primary is exactly where someone should theoretically be able to show up, write a check, and buy himself or herself a Senator. It’s exactly where a late hit — fair or not — could be enough to tilt an election. There’s nothing to keep a pure outsider, someone acting on behalf of an interest group or even someone from the other party, from trying the same tactic." - Rancher Deb Fischer did indeed score an upset last night after a bunch of money was poured into ads in the last couple weeks - Reuters, The Hill

Congress/2012The Obama Super PAC Ad Makess a Mockery of Campaign-Finance Laws The Obama campaign and the super PAC supporting him both released ads attacking Mitt Romney and Bain Capital. "It's entirely plausible that Priorities USA didn't have inside info about the campaign's coming ad. Maybe they were already preparing an attack...But that's the point. Even when there aren't backchannel conversations going on, the super PAC and the campaign are able to push a nearly identical message at basically the same time anyway."

Obama Fundraiser: Embrace of Super-PAC Was Unneccessary "Don Peebles, a prominent real estate mogul who has bundled more than $100,000 for Obama, said Democrats have been inconsistent in resisting the influence of money in politics. 'I don't think it was necessary to engage in the super-PAC efforts,' Peebles told The Hill. "Especially when we said earlier we weren't going to."

Democrats Rush Into Arms of Super PACs "Congressional Democrats who publicly proclaimed that super PACs are the scourge of modern politics are now going all out to chase the big money that’s fueling the 2012 campaign." Crossroads Announcing $25 Million Ad Push "An independent group favoring Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney is launching a $25 million, monthlong advertising campaign in 10 states against President Barack Obama, further escalating an expensive TV ad war in presidential battlegrounds six months before Election Day."

Why Obama Must Hold Wall Street Accountable The Nation's Ari Berman writes on the need to make Wall Street accountability a focal point in his campaign. "That would mean an end to the lavish fundraisers held by the titans of high finance (like the one last night), toughening and rigorously enforcing financial reform legislation and aggressively prosecuting Wall Street malfeasance. The banks would no doubt protest even louder than usual, but the public would heartily applaud. If the money dries up, so be it." Big Sky's The Limit "Like many congressional races around the country, Montana’s Senate contest is being defined by previously unthinkable levels of outside spending."

Americans Elect Without a Nominee "Americans Elect, the deep-pocketed nonprofit group that set out to nominate a centrist third-party presidential ticket, admitted early Tuesday that its ballyhooed online nominating process had failed." - More from the Washington Post